The Turkish language has become increasingly more popular within the last 20 years and here are the top six reasons to learn Turkish:
Top six reasons to learn Turkish
1. Gateway to 200 million speakers
The Turkish language belongs to one of the primary language families of the world called the Turkic language family. Turkic languages have a total of more than 200 million speakers in several different countries and thus, learning Turkish opens the door to a vast territory of significant geopolitical importance from Eastern Europe to China.
Even though there are some differences among these languages, the switch from Turkish to any other Turkic language is not difficult, and thus, learning Turkish would be a great start for learning any Turkic language. Moreover, many Turkic speakers understand and speak Turkish these days thanks to the huge popularity of the Turkish TV series in Turkic-speaking countries.
“Learning Turkish opens the door to a vast territory from Eastern Europe to all the way to China with more than 200 million speakers”
2. Turkey: Top destination for travel and relocation
Turkey has everything to offer to its visitors, from an ancient rich history and a breath-taking landscape to the warm hospitality of its people and world-renowned rich cuisine. With a 12,000-year-old history, this land has witnessed some of the most prominent civilizations of the world, from the Hittites to the Urartians, the Romans to the Byzantines, and the Seljuks to the Ottomans.
This is exactly why today’s Turkey is a unique blend of modern and old, and East and West with its rich and diverse history. This is also exactly why it is one of the top international travel destinations in the world.
Apart from being the top sixth most popular global travel destination with more than 50 million foreign tourists annually, Turkey has also become a major destination for relocation and retirement in recent years due to its beautiful landscape, low cost of living, low crime rate, incredible food, and hospitable people. Moreover, the Turkish government’s open-door policy makes Turkey one of the easiest countries in the world to get permanent residency.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Turks do not speak any foreign languages, and thus, whether you want to live there or just visit the country for a couple of weeks, speaking some Turkish would make a huge difference. It would not only be your key to immersing yourself in the local culture and having a unique experience with the locals, but it will also make your life easier, especially if you venture out of the main tourist areas.
Turks are generally warm and hospitable people and they adore foreigners, who make an attempt to speak their language. As Nelson Mandela once put it, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart”. It can’t be more true for Turkish people!
Please check out our Turkey post for more information on Turkey and Turkish culture.
“Turkey is the top sixth most popular international travel destination in the world”
3. Turkey: A geopolitical powerhouse
Turkey is an economic and geopolitical powerhouse that serves as a bridge between East and West. It has the second-largest army in NATO and the 19th largest economy in the world. Besides being a major trading partner with the European Union for a long time, its booming economy and young skilled workforce have made Turkey an important regional player between Europe and Asia in the last two decades. Thus, learning Turkish may certainly provide new business and job opportunities.
4. A fun language with a distinct structure
Turkish is a fun language with a distinct grammar structure. It is regular and very logical. Once you understand its logic, it becomes very straightforward and easy.
It is also a phonetic language and uses the Latin alphabet. In other words, you can learn the Turkish letters/sounds in a couple of hours and pronounce everything perfectly afterward. Because of all these reasons, Turkish is much easier to learn than most non-Latin-based languages such as Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. Indeed, many people take our Turkish classes in NYC just because of its distinct and fun structure. We have also recently started offering conversation-focused and highly interactive online classes that anyone can take from anywhere in the world.
5. Importance of Turkish will increase
The Turkish language has lately become increasingly more important globally and its importance is likely to increase in the near future. As a result, more and more people from all around the world learn Turkish every day.
Not surprisingly, the British Council identified Turkish as one of the top 10 most vital languages to Britain over the next 20 years in its “Languages for the Future” report.
Similarly, the U.S. State Department designated Turkish as one of the critical languages and Turkish speakers have a significant competitive advantage in the U.S. Foreign Service Officer Test.
Thus, learning Turkish may also be a good investment for the future.
“Turkish TV series are now second only to the American TV series globally in popularity”
6. Watch Turkish TV series in their original language
Turkish TV series have taken the world by storm and Turkey is now second only to the U.S. globally as a television series exporter. Accordingly, now many Turkish TV series aficionados from all around the world learn Turkish to watch the series in their original language, and indeed, many of them also end up visiting Turkey after learning the language.